What is Wondering Time?
Wondering Time is a weekly gathering of the entire Elementary School - and, separately, Preschool - where we cultivate curiosity, resilience, and wonder. Through singing and yoga, stories and art invitations, mindfulness practices and cultural celebrations, we explore the Ventana Values at the heart of our school: Wonder Constantly; Work Together; Bring Your Whole Self; Appreciate Each Other; Choose Kindness; and Respect Nature. Wondering Time has also become a place where the Ventana community explores our social justice commitments, and books and other resources used during this gathering have been carefully curated to represent the vast and beautiful diversity of this world and its peoples. Teachers often invite classroom conversations exploring the books we read or topics we’ve discussed, effectively weaving the Ventana Values into inquiry work and other activities throughout the year.
Focusing on values naturally draws our attention to practice, not outcome: values do not predict certain results or products, but they shape our behavior, our choices, and our relationship with others and the natural world. To be aware of one’s values is an important aspect of mindfulness. Awareness is the bridge to understanding and choice, meaning the more we articulate and reflect on our values, the better able we are to act upon them and, over time, intentionally adapt them to new and different stages of life.
Families are encouraged to attend Wondering Time and warmly welcome to share a religious or cultural tradition with us throughout the year. Each Elementary class also leads Wondering Time once a year, which is often a special opportunity for parents from that class to attend.
FAQs
What does it mean that Ventana is an Episcopal school?
While we are grounded in shared Episcopal and Ventana values, the majority of our students are not Episcopalian. Ventana is a wonderfully diverse community. Our teachers, staff, and students come from a wide range of religious and spiritual practices, or none at all.
What role does religion play at Ventana School?
We do not teach religion as part of our curriculum or hold church services. Our philosophy is to be open to all curiosities and questions as children develop their own ideas about spirituality and their unique sense of connection to the earth and the people around them. We understand spirituality as a natural and integral part of a child’s experience of the world. This is defined beautifully by Dr. Lisa Miller, Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, as follows: “Natural spirituality is a direct sense of listening to the heartbeat of the living universe, of being one with that seen and unseen world, open and at ease in that connection. A child's spirituality precedes and transcends language, culture, and religion. It comes as naturally to children as their fascination with a butterfly or a twinkling star-filled night sky.”
CONTACT REV. CLAIRE
Our approach to spirituality is expansive and progressive. It is important to us that every family feels welcome! If you have any further questions, you are welcome to schedule a meeting with Claire. She’d love to get to know you and show you around our beautiful campus. You can reach her at claire@ccla.us.
